. >> reporter: i'm sure that's the hope of the obama camp. now, we asked the question, why? why has it been almost universal from both republicans and democrats that romney performed better last night and what we found is that it may not be based on what was actually said. >> the body language started strong, friendly, with the two candidates starting locked in a handshake. >> how you say something was often times more important than what you said. >> reporter: joe tuman says if you were to rate the candidates strictly on the nonverbal communication after that, former governor romney was the clear winner. >> he was energetic. he smiled a lot. and he seemed full of pep for the president. >> reporter: he says romney frequently looked at the president, kept his head up and appeared engaged while the president kept his eyes down cast. >> and when you combine looking down with a frown, while the other person on the other screen is smiling and looking directly at you and also attacking you at the moment, it looks like you're not liking what you're hearing. >> reporter: there were